Weekday Dinner Parties

I finally used my new Dutch oven.

As mentioned in my 2024 Ins and Outs, having more dinner parties is at the top of my to-do list this year. If there’s anything I’ve learned about hosting over the years, it’s that (A) you can execute ANYTHING if you prepare well enough, (B) ‘surprise and delight’ is more than just a marketing strategy, and (C) if the host is having fun, the guests are having fun! (Borrowed that last one from Ina.) After my friend Maikal told me a few weeks ago that she made Melissa Clark’s beef bourguignon, I was determined to make this on Valentine’s Day for my girlfriends, even though Valentine’s Day fell smack in the middle of the work week and I have a full-time corporate fashion job. Planning this didn’t stress me out, however, because I’m in a long-term relationship with my Notes app.

To put it simply, I did everything in advance. I grocery shopped on Sunday; made my cake layers on Monday; assembled my cake, made the beef bourguignon, and set the table on Tuesday. By the time Wednesday rolled around, I was ready to host my Valentine’s Day dinner party in my pink kitchen wearing my pink gingham babydoll dress with the black lace Peter Pan collar. It was maybe one of the least stressful things I’ve ever done.

Sydney, Emily, and Olivia arrived at 7:30 sharp (after I had just gotten out of the queue for Charli XCX’s Boiler Room set application) equipped with flowers and chocolates and angelic energy. Emily’s hair is pink again which was very fitting for the occasion. Olivia assembled a charcuterie board for us in the living room while I lit tea candles on the coffee table and poured champagne and we talked about our day at school (a.k.a. the Coach office where we all work and see each other every day but it’s still not enough). Sydney hadn’t been feeling well that day, so unfortunately, she couldn’t stay for dinner. Being in Sydney’s presence without her cracking even one joke threaded with sarcasm hurt my heart—she really wasn’t feeling well.

When it was time for dinner, Emily and Olivia sat down at my candlelit kitchen table while I served hearty portions of beef bourguignon over couscous with slices of sourdough bread that Emily brought. Emily poured us glasses of red wine and we conversed about how she and I are SUCH morning people but also SUCH night owls. Our new term for this is Corporate Party Girl.

Apparently beef bourguignon does not photograph well (Julia Child never mentioned this), but I promise it was delicious. When we finished our meals, the girls cleaned the dishes—too nice of them—while I brought out dessert. I had made a two-layer, heart-shaped vanilla cake with strawberry buttercream frosting and a layer of strawberry jam on the inside. This has become our cake. I made it for Olivia’s birthday this year and it was a fan favorite. I also had picked up some candy from BonBon in the Lower East Side, which I arranged on a plate next to the cake. (Everything was so easy!!! Surprise and delight!!!)

Upon finishing our dessert and clearing the table, we turned up the French pop music I had playing on the living room speakers, and Jack came over to help us finish the wine. Shortly after the music got louder, I received a text from my sweet neighbor to please turn it down as she had an early meeting the next morning. My neighbors are far too patient with my incessant loud music, and I brought them some cake to apologize. All that being said, we decided to flee the scene and go to Ray’s for a Modelo to end this perfect Ash Wednesday.

I still got almost 8 hours of sleep and presented to a room of 20 people at 10:00 the next morning. I am so proud to be a Corporate Party Girl.

Happy Friday here’s some music xoxox ⋅˚₊‧ ୨୧ ‧₊✿